In the past few days, lawyer Gary Blackburn has filed two federal class action lawsuits against CoreCivic, the private prison operator formerly known as CCA, over a massive scabies outbreak in the Metro-Davidson County Detention Facility. One of the lawsuits, filed last Friday, is on behalf of female inmates affected by the outbreak. The other, filed Monday afternoon, is on behalf of the male inmates as a class.
Both suits are filled with deeply disturbing details — and may cause you to spend the afternoon scratching psychosomatically induced itches — but the latest suit provides even more details of how long CoreCivic allegedly ignored the outbreak and allowed it to spread. Filed on behalf of "John Doe," the suit alleges that the scabies outbreak had begun by October of 2016, at the latest, and that by December at least 40 male inmates were infected with the parasite and receiving no treatment, despite multiple complaints.
The plaintiff entered the prison last August to serve time for a DUI, and by October he had scabies, despite his best attempts to avoid contact with what he says were "numerous inmates" with "a visible red rash on their bodies consistent with scabies infestation." These inmates allegedly filed sick calls and grievances last fall to no avail. Several inmates seemed to get the rash after playing cards with one inmate who had the rash on his hands.
Once Doe had symptoms, "including red bumps, track-like burrow marks, and an intense and painful itching near the sores," he says he was given a health screening — the first one he had allegedly been given in his time in prison, although inmates are supposed to be screened for conditions and tested for TB upon booking. At the screening, Doe was told "the rash was caused by contact dermatitis, a reaction to the water, or 'something in the laundry'." He was also not given a TB test, despite asking for one. Doe requested further medical treatment in November to no avail.
In December Doe was approved to work as a trustee, assisting "with the maintenance of and repairs" of the facility. Since he moved around to different areas of the prison, Doe noticed that scabies infections were not just prevalent in his own "pod," a unit that housed around 140 men. Doe submitted another sick call request but was again ignored, although by this time in late December, at least 40 men in his own pod were infected.
The lawsuit claims that prison staff intimidated inmates who tried to seek help. Doe claims that he was finally able to get treatment in January only after he pointed out that his job duties took him into the warden's office on occasion and that without treatment, the administration could also become infected. However, this treatment did not work. He tried and failed to get additional treatment in March. According to the suit, Doe was not fully able to end his scabies infestation until he left jail, over six months after he had been infected.
There are other allegations in the lawsuit. Another inmate had a mental breakdown from lack of sleep due to the constant itching, which prison officials handled by throwing him in solitary confinement without treatment.
Meanwhile, no one at the prison took any steps to quarantine infected inmates or otherwise stop the spread of the infestation: The suit also alleges that:
- An inmate who had transferred from West Tennessee informed prison officials that his prior facility had also been infested with scabies, but his complaints were ignored;
- Prison custodians refused to wash the clothes of scabies-infested inmates separately, as best practices to treat contamination require;
- Although prison boilers are supposed to maintain a temperature of 160 degrees in order to sanitize laundry, the boiler temperature would frequently fail to meet that temperature. Despite being notified of this, officials refused to fix the problem because they "did not want to spend money on the repairs";
- Inmates' wool blankets were only laundered once every 30 to 90 days, enabling the scabies to re-infest individuals who received treatment.
Another disturbing allegation is that the infestation was reported to the Metro Public Health Department in January by an inmate's wife, and the health department allegedly chose to do nothing. Another group of inmates reportedly contacted the ALCU around the same time. Again, nothing happened.
In the other lawsuit filed last week on behalf of Wendy Snead, et al, there are further allegations of prison officials ignoring patients who needed treatment for months and then threatening those who complained. Snead contracted scabies from a cellmate, Jennifer King, who had been transferred from one "pod" to another in January and was allegedly at that time already showing early symptoms of scabies.
The lawsuit states:
Guards employed by the Defendant began threatening Plaintiff and other inmates that if they mentioned the word "scabies," complained about it, or filed a grievance, they would be placed in solitary confinement. The guards informed Plaintiff and others that female inmates from E Pod, from which Mrs. King had transferred, were placed in solitary confinement for discussing the scabies infestation. In so stating, the Defendant acknowledged that inmates had been complaining about scabies in E Pod for some time prior to Mrs. King's transfer to A Pod.Inmates attempted to inform their family members about the scabies infestation over the phone and asked their families to research scabies on their behalf. Because the Defendant monitors all phone calls, those inmates immediately had their phone privileges revoked, in retaliation for attempting to bring light to the epidemic.
Snead eventually got her family to pressure the health department into forcing the prison to release her for an emergency dermatology appointment on May 19 and was officially diagnosed with scabies. But when she returned to prison, officials refused to fill her prescription to treat the scabies. She was allegedly later denied clean clothing or bedding or showers for five days, despite the diagnosis, purportedly in retaliation for seeking treatment. Meanwhile, King appeared in court on May 17 where she said she was being prevented from finishing a parenting class due to the rash she had had for four months, which she said she had been told was caused by mold.
"They are giving me a fungal pill and some cream to put on it, and that's about it. I've begged them to take me to the hospital to make sure and they just won't," King says. Another speaker (unidentified in the court transcript), adds, "[T]here is like 80 woman that are broke out at the facility that they are treating trying to get rid of." Judge Steve Dozier quips, "We need to get an I-Team special report on them out there like they did Bellevue Middle School. They are fixing Bellevue Middle School apparently from mold." King's lawyer, Leah Wilson, comments that there is apparently a scabies outbreak. Dozier asks,"Is scabies like rabies?" and is told it's like lice.
But by that point the scabies was already spreading to the courts, too. According to an email from Blackburn (whose wife Melissa is a General Sessions Court judge), at least 37 people who work in or frequent the Justice A.A. Birch Building have sought treatment for scabies, and 32 of those people have had their diagnosis confirmed.
Yet the health department says that as of June 19, only 52 inmates total have been treated after presenting symptoms, and none have had “laboratory confirmed cases of scabies.” All 1,300 or so inmates are supposed to have been preventively treated by this week.
State Rep. John Ray Clemmons (D-Nashville) has called on Metro Council and Mayor Megan Barry to assess whether CoreCivic is in breach of its contract. Barry today said, "The Metro Legal Department and Health Department are still in the process of reviewing the facts in the scabies outbreak to determine if a breach of contract has occurred, and will advise appropriate next steps."
